SURFACE brings Scandinavian and Japanese design influences to a Tribeca loft
Collection: SURFACE / Variant: SURFACE Smoked Oak
WHO: Dave Snyder, Chief Design Officer at Siberia, and his partner, Shannon, VP at Okta, along with their teenage son and two Newfoundlands, Frankie and Arto.
LOCATION: Tribeca, New York City
COLLECTION: SURFACE
Insomnia is what led Dave Snyder and his partner, Shannon, back to Manhattan after 15 years in Brooklyn. Early one morning, Dave woke up to the glow of Shannon’s phone and found himself scrolling through real estate listings. They spotted a historic loft on Franklin Street in a neighbourhood they had long admired. By 4:30 AM, Dave had emailed the agent, and within days, they were walking through the space with their friends Jason and Maki from Tang Kawasaki Studio. The encouragement they needed came from Jason and Maki: “If you can pull it off, do it.” Two years and a major renovation later, the loft now blends the calm simplicity of Scandinavian and Japanese design with the original character of a 19th-century Tribeca loft.
Built in 1867, the building was one of many mercantile palaces that shaped Tribeca from the 1850s to the 1880s. These cast-iron buildings housed dry goods stores on the ground floor and light manufacturing or storage above. In the late 1970s, an artist bought the building and turned it into a four-unit co-op. Dave and Shannon’s unit hadn’t changed owners in over forty years. What they inherited was highly personal and improvisational: a former artist’s studio filled with a 14‑foot trellis of plants catching the southern sun, and a north‑facing family apartment shaped around a winding mezzanine—the product of decades of DIY projects. The spaces' quirks, unusual plumbing, inherited mezzanines, and limited ceiling heights added to the loft’s charm.
Dave and Shannon wanted their home to feel calm and open, while still respecting the loft’s original character. The new mezzanine, engineered with a 24‑foot structural steel span wrapped in oak, was designed to be as thin as possible so it would seem almost weightless above the kitchen. The kitchen, stretching nearly 700 square feet, is the center of daily life, from coffee to work to home to dinners with friends. To preserve the room's height and volume, they deliberately chose not to add upper cabinets. Instead, the kitchen runs beneath the mezzanine, creating a sheltered yet practical zone where appliances, pantry goods, and coffee equipment are tucked out of sight. The island bench anchors the space. It’s large, sculptural, and made for cooking for a crowd or pulling up with a laptop during the day.
“Everything flows through the kitchen. From our morning coffee to homework with our son. And it has to work overtime. We both work from home, so it's busy morning, lunch, and dinner.”
— Dave Snyder
Dave, a longtime admirer of Norm Architects, was drawn to the textured fronts of SURFACE. The collections tactile feel adds warmth to the space, while the smoked oak finish echoes the original beams overhead and sits comfortably alongside the 160‑year‑old window millwork the couple insisted on preserving. For Dave and Shannon, extending SURFACE beyond the kitchen and into the wardrobes helped create a sense of visual continuity throughout the loft. The tall fronts introduce quiet texture and make the space feel cozy, balancing the loft’s openness and offering a warm transition before entering the bathroom. “The wardrobes were all about more space,” Dave says, “but we also loved how they created a warm moment.” Jason and Maki from Tang Kawasaki Architects felt the same, SURFACE introduced the subtle play of shadow and light they were looking for, creating a sense of calm restraint.
“We love when structural and formal rigor are inspired by mundane laws of physics and building code requirements.”
— Jason and Maki, Tang Kawasaki Studio
Six months since moving in, the space feels like home. Dave cooks often, currently favoring slow braises like wine-braised short ribs over cheese-heavy polenta. The kitchen, he says, is built for real use, not performance. “It’s a working kitchen, not a showpiece. I just happen to think it’s beautiful.” The loft, once a mix of artist projects and family spaces, now moves to a quieter everyday rhythm. It’s minimal, warm, and textured, shaped by light, shadow, and a thoughtful blend of old and new.
Photography: Hanna Grankvist
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